Crist, Seminoles propose new gambling deal

Brandon Larrabee/News Service of Florida

Wednesday

Apr 22, 2009 at 8:26 PM

TALLAHASSEE — Florida could bring in $1.1 billion in the next two years to help patch the state budget under a new gambling agreement proposed Wednesday by Gov. Charlie Crist and the Seminole Tribe of Florida.

But at least one lawmaker involved in negotiations to craft legislation outlining a gaming compact swiftly dismissed the proposal, raising questions about whether Crist and the tribe could push the deal through the Legislature.

Crist and tribe representatives said the deal could help the state avoid deep cuts to education as lawmakers negotiate a spending plan for the coming fiscal year, which begins July 1.

“Do this for the children of Florida,” Crist said, indirectly addressing lawmakers at a news conference to announce the new agreement. “We have a duty here as elected officials to do everything we can for their future, to make sure they all have a bright future.”

Tribe Councilman Max Osceola also highlighted the Seminole’s willingness to advance the state $600 million this year and up to $500 million next year with the hopes the money will go to education.

“In native country, your wealth is measured by not what you accumulate but what you share,” Osceola said. “So here’s a way for us to share for the future.”

In exchange for paying out more money in the first two years of the agreement, the Seminoles would owe the state nothing in the third year and would see its minimum payments scaled back for several years after that.

The agreement is a more than $700 million increase from what the tribe would have paid in the first two years of the compact Crist signed with the Seminoles in 2007. Under that agreement, struck down by the Florida Supreme Court because it lacked legislative approval, the tribe would have paid $288 million the first year and $100 million the second.

In all, the state would be guaranteed at least $2.5 billion in proceeds from Seminole gambling over the next 25 years, though more could be raised depending on the tribe’s revenue.

The new agreement would give the Seminoles exclusive rights to offer blackjack and slot gambling outside of South Florida, but would make several concessions to pari-mutuel establishments worried about being forced to compete with the more expansive Seminole facilities. Existing gambling establishments would see poker limits adjusted and would be allowed to operate around the clock and have ATMs on the casino floor.

Rep. Bill Galvano, the Bradenton Republican who chairs the House committee that crafted a gaming compact, said the offer of more funds would not force lawmakers to back down from their proposals. The House, for instance, offers far more limited terms for the Seminoles.

“Our approach to the compact is not about filling a fiscal need. ... We’re not just going to say, okay, there’s a bunch of money, we’ve got to do whatever we’re asked to get this money,” Galvano said.

brandon.larrabee@jacksonville.com,(678) 977-3709

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